PAUL PERKINS, OF MINNEAPOLIS.
If a bomb had exploded in the office David Mullins and his friend Ralston could not have been more astonished than by the appearance of Paul Perkins, whose name was invented without the slightest idea that any such person existed.
Before relating what followed, a word of explanation is necessary.
Chester went to the Fifth Avenue Hotel without the slightest suspicion that he had been sent on a fool"s errand. He imagined, indeed, that Mr.
Mullins wanted to get rid of him, but did not doubt that there was such a man as Paul Perkins, and that he was expected to arrive at the Fifth Avenue Hotel.
He walked up Broadway in a leisurely manner, feeling that his hasty return was not desired. He reached the Fifth Avenue, and entering--it was the first time he had ever visited the hotel--went up to the desk.
The clerk was giving instructions to a bell boy, who was directed to carry a visitor"s card to No. 221. When at leisure, Chester asked:
"Has Mr. Paul Perkins, of Minneapolis, arrived at the hotel?"
The clerk looked over the list of arrivals. Finally his forefinger stopped at an entry on the book.
"Yes," he answered, "he arrived last evening. Did you wish to see him?"
About this Chester was in doubt. He had only been asked to inquire if Mr. Perkins had arrived. He a.s.sumed, however, that the bookkeeper wished to see Mr. Perkins at the office. Accordingly he answered, "Yes, sir. I should like to see him."
The clerk rang a bell and another bell boy made his appearance.
"Write your name on a card," said the clerk, "and I will send it up."
"The gentleman won"t know my name," said Chester.
"Then give the name of your firm."
So Chester, after slight hesitation, wrote:
"Chester Rand. From Clement Fairchild, Real Estate Broker."
"Take that up to 169," said the clerk to the bell boy.
In five minutes the boy returned.
"Mr. Perkins says you are to come upstairs to his room," he reported.
Chester followed the bell boy to the elevator.
He had never before ridden in such a conveyance and the sensation was a novel one. They got off at one of the upper floors, and Chester followed his guide to the door of a room near by.
The bell boy knocked.
"Come in," was heard from the inside.
Chester entered and found himself in the presence of a man of fifty, with a sandy complexion and thick, brown beard. He held the card in his hand, and was looking at it.
"Are you Chester Rand?" he asked, in a high-pitched voice.
"Yes, sir."
"And you come from Clement Fairchild?"
"Yes, sir."
"This is very curious. I never heard the name before."
Chester looked surprised.
"I can"t explain it, sir," he said. "I was asked to come to the hotel and ask if you had arrived."
"Where is Mr. Fairchild"s office?"
"On West Fourteenth Street."
"And he is a real estate broker?"
"Yes, sir."
"I don"t understand what he wants of me, or how in the name of all that is curious he ever heard of me. I don"t own any real estate, except a three-story house in which I live."
"Perhaps, sir, if you will go to the office with me you will get an explanation."
"Precisely. That is a very practical and sensible suggestion. Is it far off? I ask because I have never been in New York before."
"It is only about ten minutes" walk."
"Then I"ll go with you, that is, if you can wait fifteen minutes while I finish writing a letter to my wife, apprising her of my safe arrival."
"Yes, sir, I am in no especial hurry."
"Then sit down, and--you may look at this," handing him the last copy of _Puck_.
Chester opened the paper eagerly, for _Puck_ had accepted two of his sketches. He opened it at random, and his eye lighted up, for there was one of the two sketches handsomely reproduced. He uttered a little exclamation.
"What have you found?" asked Paul Perkins, looking up from his letter.
"This picture--is one of mine."
"You don"t mean it!" exclaimed the man from Minneapolis, dropping his pen in surprise. "I thought you were an office boy."
"So I am, sir, but--sometimes I sell sketches to the ill.u.s.trated papers."
"What did you get for this?"
"Seven dollars and a half. That is, I sold this and another for fifteen dollars."